Unique Quilts Tell Stories

Many stunning quilts are made with symmetrical groups of beloved blocks and beautiful, balanced results are achieved. But two AQS authors take a different approach to quilt designing and allow you to create, as Marianne L. Hatton calls them, “next generation” quilts, using different-sized or non-traditional blocks to achieve a cohesive whole and tell a story, too!

In Simply Dynamic Sampler Quilts, Marianne L. Hatton encourages jumping in with only a little specific planning in mind. Her spontaneous attitude is contagious! The quilts in her book are given an overall master plan after a theme, a color scheme, and a few blocks are created. Add fabrics, develop contrast, and play with the design as you go along. You’ll follow Marianne’s pathway to these unique sampler quilts while you learn about fabric choices, color value, and other design considerations. Detailed block-making basics fill you in on the “how-to” for many types and sizes of blocks, and patterns are included for the blocks used in the illustrated quilts. Each part of the book addresses a technique that every quilter should learn, but it’s no ordinary sampler quilt when it’s done!

Another way to express a quilt’s personality is to add photos to the quilt! In Easy Memorabilia Quilts by Trish Bowman, you will learn to make the memories last and your efforts will result in a quilt to remember. Sometimes our photos are tucked away and some are stored on our digital files, but the photos on a memory quilt will be seen and lovingly remembered as often as it is used. Again, each block will be different, because each photo adds its own personality. And who wouldn’t remember Dad by his eclectic selection of ties, ball caps, or t-shirts? This book gives intriguing new ideas for using special memorabilia to capture memories of a lifetime.

Enjoy making these two very different kinds of quilts that are based on unique themes. They’re available now at shop.americanquilter.com!